Listing / Listening, Part 2

[See also, Part 1]
What better way to spend the summer than listening / listing
to these nostalgic favs & learning every reference:

Prime Time

We Didn't Start the Fire

Welcome to the Internet

You can find lyrics and more on my recent post

Cultural List - eracy,
Part 2: From Prime Time to Internet

[Also, Part 1: Make Your Own List ]

@The Fortnightly Kitti Carriker
A literary blog of connection & coincidence;
custom & ceremony

P.S.
While we're on the topic of Billy Joel,
this seems like a fitting place to share
one of Sam's high school assignments
that I have saved all these years
because I thought he did such a good job:
"Uptown Girl" describes the crush that a blue-collar boy has on a beautiful high-class girl. Billy Joel utilizes different melodic techniques when describing them, a duality that expresses the differences between the boy and the girl of his dreams.

“Uptown Girl” has a standard homophonic texture for a pop song as well as typical instrumentation, including bass, drums, guitars, backup vocals, and lead vocals and keyboard by Billy Joel. “Uptown Girl” is in duple meter, with a strong beat throughout, driven by drums, which keep the song at an even mezzo forte dynamic and an even tempo of moderato.

The form of “Uptown Girl” is Intro-A-A-B-A-Break-A-B-A-Break with a codo at the end. In the A sections, Billy Joel describes the social divide between himself, a man living downtown “who can’t afford to buy her pearls,” and his crush who lives uptown and enjoys her “white bread world.” Although there is no clear climax, Billy Joel repeats “I’m in love with an uptown girl,” using the repetition to indicate his infatuation and emphasize her unattainability. Throughout the five A sections Joel uses a rougher, boy-like, folksy timbre to express not only his adolescent attraction, but also his social class.

The melody is conjunct; it has lower pitches, an even contour, a small range, and more choppy rhythm. However, in the B sections when Joel describes his physical attraction to the girl and how she looks, walks, and talks, he uses a sweeter, more adoring timbre. Furthermore, he employs higher pitches, as well as a wider range, a more flowing contour, several disjunct intervals, and a more stylish rhythm.

The way that Billy Joel contrasts the A section and B section melodies instills in the listener the economic gap between Joel and his crush. I think the most effective difference is the use of the range of pitch. In the A sections he uses a small range to convey simplicity; conversely, to express the social status of Joel’s crush he uses a wide range to suggest that she is sophisticated and affluent. The concluding musical resolution suggests that maybe the grubby guy is going to win the elegant girl after all!

Insightful analysis, Sam!